I know I have been very absent for a very long time, but I'm doing my best and hopefully you are still with me :)  I have been fairly busy at work and in my free time I've been getting involved in a new hobby... couponing! To some of you this is probably not a shock because I instagram and tweet about my couponing ventures but it's definitely something that I'm really enjoying.  I so far have been doing a good job of resisting clipping coupons for items I don't need and I have not bought anything we don't already use.  So no hoarding for me!  

One of the things I really love about couponing is it almost makes meal planning easier!  Instead of planning our meals for the week based upon what sounds good, I go through the stores' circulars and find things that are inexpensive and plan that way!  It makes a world of difference.  It makes planning the meals less confusing and allows me to feed Matt and myself on the cheap :)

I absolutely adore chili.  Usually filled with tomatoes.  Big plump, juicy tomatoes.  But as I've mentioned in posts pasts, my significant other cannot stand them.  So as much as it pains me, I have created a recipe for tomato-less chili.  I find this chili to be really good, despite it's lack of tomatoes.  I use tomato paste to get some tomato flavor in there without having the actual tomato pieces in there.  I think this recipe is perfect for someone looking to de-tomato-ize their chili (not sure how many of you exist!)  You can also make this a more traditional chili by adding 2-3 fresh tomatoes :)

Hey guys!  I'm back after a little hiatus... crazy holidays, lots of stuff going on at work and was sick all week!  I just had to tell you about this asparagus.  My Aunt Beth made it for Christmas Dinner and it was the biggest hit at the table.  I immediately harassed her via text for the recipe and she sent it to me right away (she's a sweetheart!)... This is a pretty healthy side-dish as long as you don't use too much sugar.   As you all know from my previous post, I've been really trying to watch what I eat, without depriving myself.  This is the perfect dish for that.  I felt like I was eating the most amazing thing ever and it was not going to destroy my healthy eating.  Truth be told, I ate more of this than anything on my plate.  I accompanied it with some veal cutlets and it was lovely.  We had it with beef tenderloin on Christmas, which was a far superior pairing than my veal cutlets but for real, I'm not made of money. Anyway, make this immediately and then thank me later ;)

Sorry for the dork-fest post title, it's just from one of my favorite shows, New Girl, which, if you don't watch it already, you definitely should and it's all available on Hulu.  So Matt and I were discussing how deli turkey just doesn't cut it sometimes.  Sometimes you want the real thing.  And by real thing I mean the thing that you are normally only lucky to have once a year? Black Friday.  The perfect Turkey Sandwich with real turkey meat and not some processed sliced turkey sitting in water or some other liquid wrapped in a plastic container (and it won't expire for like a month?? Weird).  So anyway, I had some time to spare, which is incredibly rare for me.  A day off is a fantastic blessing in my life, so I use it to make turkey for "real turkey" sandwiches for Matt all week.  Yum-my.

Need a quick fall snack?  I've got just the thing.  Pepitas!  Also known as pumpkin seeds, these are super simple to make and delicious to snack on for days (keep in an air tight container).  You can season or flavor them however you'd like, I just thought I'd take them in a bold direction with Tandoori!  I followed this exact step by step from The Pioneer Woman and used sea salt, a teaspoon or so (maybe 1.5) of Tandoori Spice, and a few pinches of smoked paprika.  Click "Read More" to see my step by step photos and final product!  

This is LITERALLY a one-pot wonder.  My favorite kind of meal.  This is another reason why I'm obsessed with my pressure cooker!  Easy to make quick meals that taste amazing and clean up is a cinch! Lentils are one of my favorite foods.  They are so easy to make (and quick with a pressure cooker), taste delicious, are incredibly filling, and very nutritious! The beauty of lentils is you can make them a million different ways.  This is just one example below.  Feel free to mix it up with whatever veggies you have, add pancetta, prosciutto, or simply make them plain with just a little garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes with a drizzle of olive oil and shredded Parmesan cheese on top.  Oh the possibilities!  Oh and did I mention they are cheap??  A one pound bag is only about $4-5 and will make enough food for half the week for two people eating it every day! They are so good for you, I can't get enough!  High in protein and fiber, low in calories, carbs, sodium and all the other bad stuff we don't like :)  Below is just what I made tonight, but please feel free to mix it up and let me know what your favorite combos are!  I make lentils almost weekly and will be sure to post other good combos in the future.  I know that when the time comes and I have a family and need a quick nutritious meal on the fly, this will definitely be a good go-to!  Let me know what you guys think!

Hey guys!  I've been really working on my diet and trying to eat healthier (despite the fact that I JUST posted a cake on here less than an hour ago).  I'm currently training for a half marathon (and blogging about it as well, here) and trying to lose weight.  So far, at my last "weigh in" I was down 3 lbs, but as of this morning, I'm down 5 since two Mondays ago!  Yay!  So I got some broccoli and cauliflower in my produce basket this week and thought it would be a great way to add some healthy veggies to my diet.  I used one of my favorite cookbooks, Healthy in a Hurry, from Williams-Sonoma to pick a great recipe.  I paired it with a pork chop that I simply seasoned with paprika, salt & pepper, garlic and a little sherry vinegar and chicken broth which I cooked in my new favorite appliance!  And I also paired it with a simple tomato and corn salad (literally just 2 tomatoes chopped mixed with corn from 3 ears and a little salt and balsamic vinegar).

This is so easy I'm blogging about it from my phone. It was so tasty because all the produce was from the local farmers markets!

The Elements:
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 avocado, sliced
Zest from 1 lime
Zest from 1/2 lemon
Maldon salt
Fresh cracked pepper
Drizzle of olive oil

Procedure:
Put avocado slices on top of tomato slices
Zest lemon and lime over the avocados
Add maldon salt, pepper and then drizzle olive oil lightly over the avocado/tomato
Enjoy!

Oh y'all I'm addicted...  I have a serious obsession with my pressure cooker.  I've been wanting one ever since I taught the pressure cooking class at Williams-Sonoma back in the fall!  I finally got myself one and I'm in love with it.  You can find one here.  I sincerely wish I had one of these to give away to you, because they are seriously amazing... Maybe Cuisinart will hear my plea, and offer one up but no pressure (LOL pun totally unintentional but awesome so I'm keeping it)

Hey guys!  Quick post this evening... Today was a lonnngggg day.  To tell you the truth, I felt like I was in 50 places at once today, so by the time 5 o'clock came around, I wasn't feeling much up to making dinner.  But, like a good housewife (yeah right lol), I texted Matt to see what he wanted for dinner.  To my pleasant surprise, he texted back that he was already making spaghetti and had made enough for me as well... what a keeper!   But for those of you who have read the blog before, you probably know how I feel about Matt's famous spaghetti with meat sauce. 

I figured I'd take the spaghetti and make something else to go on top, since I wasn't crazy about the idea of Ragu and ground beef (in Matt's defense, I had just read on twitter about some meat company that just recalled and insane amount of ground beef for salmonella...and even though it wasn't our brand, it was just kind of unappetizing).  SOOOO, I figured that I wanted to come up with something that I could just throw together in a jiffy so that I could pile it all in a bowl, curl up on the couch, and watch Stabler and Benson throw some perverts in jail.